The patron and the painter
“The patron and the painter: Dutch governor Gideon Loten (1710-1789) and the Sri Lankan natural history artist Pieter de Bevere (1722-1782) the fruitful but unacknowledged collaboration in the study of the birds of Sri Lanka” – by Archt. Ismeth Raheem will be the 101st Session of the Monthly Lecture Series of the National Trust – Sri Lanka.
The lecture will be at the HNB Auditorium, 22nd Floor, HNB Towers, 479 T.B. Jayah Mawatha, Colombo 10 at 6.30 p.m. on Thursday, November 30.
While there has been sustained interest in the research efforts of modern natural historians in various parts of the world, the scholarship on the work of naturalists in South Asia is more scant but a growing area.
This presentation will look at the work of Sri Lankan natural history artist Pieter de Bevere who worked closely with his patron the Dutch Governor Gideon Loten from 1752-1757 to produce over 150 detailed drawings. These illustrations were accompanied by notes focusing on features such as the dietary and habitat aspects of bird’s endemic and unique to Sri Lanka – which aspects were largely unknown to 18th Century European naturalists.